Editor's Note: Jan Chipchase is Executive Creative Director of Global Insights at frog, a global innovation firm. This post is part of the Global Innovation Showcase created by the New America Foundation and the Global Public Square.
We’re halfway done with 2011, a year marked by remarkable, revolutionary uprisings in the Middle East - uprisings facilitated and documented on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media.
When the governments in Egypt and Syria tried to control the flow of information from citizens by blocking Internet access and other forms of communication, the worldwide perception of these acts was that they were sinister and cruel. People were silenced. It was as if their vocal chords were cut; it was as if we, outside the Middle East, were blinded.
Was the impact so dramatic because today Internet access has reached the status of a basic need – like clean water or electricity?
The United Nations, in fact, recently declared that disconnecting people from the Internet is a violation of human rights. And if connectivity is a human right, how do we help make the Internet more accessible to everyone – from those in the throes of a revolution, to fellow citizens back home? What is our responsibility to bridge the digital divide?The World Bank's international infrastructure statistics provide a snapshot of how the human need for Internet connectivity keeps growing exponentially. In the early 1990s, according to the Bank, there were 0.3 Internet users for every 100 people. Today, that figure is 27.1 per 100.
If you are living your life online it is easy to be caught up in the assumptions of your own, gilded online lifestyle – a broad spectrum of information and news on demand; entertainment at the touch of your fingertips, more of everything faster than before.
Read: Are we still an innovation nation?
In the United States, 92 percent of Americans rely on multiple sources for news, combining traditional print, TV, and radio and online sources, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, and among those who get news online, 75 percent receive their news via email or posts on social networking sites. 52 percent share news links with others via those sites. Statistics such as these suggest that those people who do not have access to the Internet are missing out; not only are we deprived of their voices, but also of their ability to learn about and interact with their communities and the world.
I bring up American statistics because even in the U.S., the concept of Internet connectivity as a basic human right, or even a form of public infrastructure, is not really an everyday practice.
Remember the first half of the 2000s, when numerous sophisticated cities, such as San Francisco and Chicago, trumpeted plans for free municipal Wi-Fi? Well, government officials later discovered that high costs and the commercial interests of giant cable and phone companies, who control where and how wires connecting citizens to the Internet are placed, were huge hurdles in making such visions real. Even San Francisco, that hotbed of innovation, scrapped its plans for "free" municipal Wi-Fi.
Though many Americans can access free Wi-Fi in libraries, parks, and other public places, the service is limited. Waiting for a computer connected to the Internet in a public library can mean waiting in long, discouraging queues to do so.
Free outdoor Wi-Fi in U.S. parks is often in a very limited radius, or of spotty quality. It's hard to imagine that some Americans simply can not afford to access the Internet. But in theUnited States, it can be more expensive than in other parts of the so-called developed world: broadband-access fees are currently higher in the U.S. than in Europe or the Asia-Pacific region, according to the International Telecommunications Union.
In many ways, the water parallel can apply. Cheap, clean tap water, provided via public infrastructure, is obviously a healthy and humane service that all Americans expect. But imagine if high-priced, privatized water was only available to those who could afford it in the United States. If we are to accept that affordable Internet access is a basic human right, then we need to be willing to confront such challenging thoughts. And do something about it.
When cutting off Egyptian and Syrian protesters’ Internet access is perceived as “censorship,” then pricing Internet access out of American consumers’ reach as more and more basic communication happens online each day is effectively an act of censorship, too. Our attitudes about the Arab spring hold up a mirror to ourselves.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of Jan Chipchase.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Please – enough with the notion that rights are determined by man or government. Natural rights or "Human" rights are given to us by our creator. We have the right to life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness. period. If we accept the notion that the government provides "rights" then we allow ourselves to become susceptiblle to becoming a dependant of the government. Then they own us. you no longer control your own life. Free stuff is not free- it is confiscated from one group to be given to another in exchange for votes. Thats all there is to it.
If we want to call ourselves a free people – we should be rejecting all government assertions of creating dependency. Social Security is a perfect example we can observe the consequences playing out in the debt ceiling debate as we speak!
Have a great day
Human rights come from our creator? Ok, which creator?
Your Creator...if you are a wisely designed, self aware, intelligent human being.
That didn't answer the question, which creator guarantees "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"? A textual citation would be nice.
@John Q
God, The universe, Genetics and mitosis, Parents... take your pick. The fact that you were created (had a beginning) and are a sapient being guarantees those rights (if you follow the argument). Try not to get hung on trivial things.
Uh...mother nature, you fool.
I will thank billions of years of cosmic evolution
Your mother and father, your creators
Humans have natural abilities and the natural right to use those abilties to further their own survival. No moral code permits random force to be used against one's neighbor. If you force your neighbor to pay your internet bill, you declare your rights at the expense of his rights.
Internet access is no more a human right than television or radio was. Will the cry baby bed wetting liberal wienies please sit down and shut up.
Internet is a medium, which enables us to communicate, receive and spread information. It can be perceived as a provision of the first Amentdment! Yes, I would call internet access a human right!
So what happens if you can't afford it? What if there isn't a cable line to your house? Or even a phone line? What if there are no ISPs in the region? I have no problem with restrictions prohibiting the governments from interfering with internet access, but too many people think 'rights' like this means the government has to provide it free of charge.
@C. Smith
Freedom isn't free... it costs a $1.05...
they would like to have control of the internet another way of the government controlling people
Internet is something that will destroy personal communication. People no longer need face actual person. Great day for people with insecurities, but bad day for people who need human contact. Soon enough we will using surrogates. Everytime someone creates idea through a movie, there is another idiot that follows through with it and creates the damn thing. So lets see how soon the surrogates will arrive. I will probably get those 10% coupons from Best Buy.
People like you should be prevented from been near a computer.. With a iq as low a the one you jvae it is amazing you are a live. There i s. Such thing as god, creator and other fictional characters. By posting such no sense on the web. Yu are choose showig the world that you are a prime candidate for te loony bin,
People like you, who have no spelling skills, need to be banned from computers too.
That's a crock. I was created by my mother and father.
Do you believe you have and inherent & inatel right to life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness? Yes or No.
Most of the time I will keep away from stupidity but the thing that you said about SS is very stupid. Ok I will let the goverment touch my Social Security if they don't obligate me to pay for it. They should return me the money they are been taking from my check from the last 20 years and I am ok with the fact that you bargain with it. I can quit to my veteran disable check because I did not pay for it.
You are on the wrong page Nimrod.
The right to 'Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness' was not bestowed by a creator, it was bestowed by a government.
No, it wasn't bestowed by a government. It is maintained by an active and informed citizenry.
The right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness was not bestowed by a government but was fashioned by free men who were revolting from a government. You are enslaved by the idea that the government grants you these things. Do you, also, believe a government can take away these rights?
You had me until you brought santa into your argument.
Let's see... You mentioned life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Internet is information and knowledge, which definitely help you pursue happiness, especially when your quest involves looking for a job, for instance. The job application you sent online lands you a job, pays your bills, enables you some money to travel, I could go on and on with a myriad of other examples... The Internet might end up even saving your life through some serendipitous chat or article you read that'll bring consequences to your life (so much for the "Butterfly Effect" of things). Liberty is freedom, and again, one cannot have real liberty without being aware of the world and being able to interact with it. Any way you look at it, the Internet should be, if not free (like listening to the radio has always been free...), at least much cheaper than what it is today
Ha ha! This reminds me of pre-WW2 when the Germans were poor after the first war. There government said that they needed to take hard steps for the country. They granted there leader emergency powers to do it. Germany expanded its checkpoints "papers pleas". Finally they brought themselves out of there depression, until they lost the war.
Yeah folks! we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! Just like Jesus said. IN THE BIBLE!
it's free will use it properly .1 day you're right we taken away from you
What is driving right or priviledge? Same concept for internet. Otherwise if it is natural right, next thing you know people on public assistance will be getting free laptops with unlimited access, not that they dont spend enough time communication on the phone, now they will be able to surf for days
The american economic situation is because of uncontrolled exploitation. Many countries have communication rates much less than ours. We are being gouged at every turn because of avarice. Free market = free to exploit and many feel obliged to steal all they can and more. The government is essentially the people and if you can't handle being a part of the solution then you will not survive.
You should try coming to a country with a very unfree market such as mine. Here, because monopolies are the order of the day, only 5% of our population enjoys internet which is much slower than American internet and way more expensive. The only thing worse than being exploited is not being exploited and that's what we have in Africa, a totally under exploited, poverty stricken population controlled by monopolistic unfree markets.
Support the 3rd world's human right to fill our mailboxes with spam.
true dat. every day i get several emails from i trace back to th1rd world sh1th0le countries. they are all 419 scams.
@Andrew
...but my friend in Uganda needs help to be crowned prince. He is the rightful heir! If you just send $1000 dollars to scam@lies.org he can repay you a thousand fold as well as offer you the position as High Chancellor!
People seem to confuse rights and privileges.
@RJ
...confuse them? ...or milk the system?
It depends on your definition of human right. If you define it as "a right that should be guaranteed to every member of the human race", then no. If you define it any other way, then no.
OK – knowledge is power and there is a need to get the emerging nations up to speed etc
but who is going to pay for it? Hard fixed infrastructure is expensive – wireless is an option – but it has its limitations.
Even if internet access is available – what are they going to use to access it?
Seems that the emerging nations have other priorities – like food and clean water – as opposed to be able to use Facebook
Is it my human right to bone your wife? I think yes!
You're confusing a human right with a national pastime.
Careful. This is the Internet. His wife might be a butterface.
if it is deemed so, then it must be free...................................
If someone really believes this they are pretty dim indeed. You have a rights to food, water, freedom, justice, and to converse with your fellow man. You do not need the internet to speak with people. Your human rights don't extend to Verizon, AT@T, Time Warner, and Facebook.
I don't think internet access is necessarily a right. You have to pay an ISP in order to have access to it (legally). At the same time, it could be argued that freedom of press and freedom of speech (in the US at least) could be argued to be obscured should access of the internet be withheld from you.
Before there was the internet, you still had to buy a paper to have access to the information generated by the free press. Newspapers have to pay for ink paper and infrastructure to create a paper. Why is it any different for the internet. It would be like providing everyone with a printing press for free. That is not what the first amendment is protecting.
Actually, you didn't (and don't) have to *buy* a paper to get access to it. Or the internet either. Both are available at the library for free. What you're basically paying for is the convenience of having it at your fingertips, in your home anytime you want it. So, by the definition that a basic human right should be available to all, subsidized by the government, then the library has this covered, and therefore the internet *would* fall under this definition.
Soon, space travel will become a basic human right.
If it's a right, why do I have to pay for it?
Because it's not a right, that's why.
You have to pay for water too, I guess that's not a right. You have to pay for food, I guess that's not a right. You have to pay to live, I guess that's not a right.
Those things don't have to be paid for. We choose to live a lifestyle that includes paying for those things. I can find a source of natural water and I can begin growing my own food. I can even become a barterer and ignore money entirely. That would require effort on my part that I don't wish to exert, but it can be done.
You don't "have" to pay for any of that stuff! We do it because of the quality of life, but if you wanted to live in a tent and hunt your own food by the river, you have every right. Last I checked there is no wild Internet roaming around nature.
No it is not a human right. Any material thing is not a human right....hell there are some groups of people who still do not wear clothes in the jungle.
@Marine
Of course they don't... Breezes are so refreshing rofl!
I have an Internet SERVICE provider, not an Internet RIGHT provider. I have Internet SERVICE, not Internet RIGHT. The first amendment provides freedom of speech, not free access to all modes of speech. Not having Internet service for any reason does not inhibit you from exercising your first amendment rights.
If it is a human "right", it must be freely given to all humans. It is a service. Nothing more.
Yet you have free access to television. You yourself do not pay for that service unless you are subscribing to cable (or are considering taxes as a form of payment for TV access). Howare the two any different? The government made TV broadcasting free so it could be used as apublic service in times of emergency. Why should the internet be any different?
But we do pay for television. We pay for the machine and the electricity. We pay for our programs by watching the commericals and buying from the sponsors. We pay for our television by giving sponsers a bit of our attention, 15 to 30 seconds at a time. If it was truly free, there would be no need for advertisments.
Do not confuse "free" with "not taking money our my pocket to pay for it." If you spend 10 hours of hard labor to get a "free" T-shirt from Habitat for Humanity, you paid for that T-shirt.
The airwaves are free...but the government charges the individual owners licensing fees to use those airwaves. So the broadcast channels charge advertisers to get their own messages (commercials) to your living room. Money is being exchanged everywhere – so don't fool yourself in thinking that just cause you aren't paying for it that its free. In fact, you are second handedly paying for it – in order to watch those 'free' airwaves, you must buy a televsion ($$$) that must run on monthly billed electricity ($). So...even if it was totally in the air for free, YOU would still have to pay something to view it.
The Internet is no different...and the internet is even a bigger issue because private companies build, own, maintain all the technologies in delivering the content to your computer....which you can't view unless you pay to own a computer, pay to use the electricity to power your computer and ultimately, pay to lease/subscribe to your local SERVICE providers access.
Its not a human right but the goverment should keep the hands off of it. They have no buisness regulating the Internet. Keep it open and unrestricted.
True....internet access is not a right, but regulating the content is a major infraction of the 1st Amendment.
What a pity people in westernized industrialized countries don't use social media the way the arabs have to impart change. We just get Betty white put on SNL, abandon Iran when Michael jackson dies, arrange flash mobs and track our x's or food trucks....yeah we're so awesome. NOT.
You seem pretty clueless. We invented the internet, we invented social media....by that very nature of its existence we have changed the fabric of our country and that of the world. Newspapers are collapsing because they can't compete with the free flow of info on the internet, we are more connected now than ever. Look at political organization from moveon.org, or the TEA Party. They have used the internet to reshape politics....look at how Pres Obama used the Internet and social media to get raise nearly $1B in campaign funding and to get elected.
You are quite ignorant of the Internet to think it hasn't played a significant role to impart change in our country. Just because we aren't at civil war like most of the Middle East doesn't mean change isn't happening. But if you think war is what it takes, then you can thank the America for inventing the internet which then brought war for freedom to the middle east.
I like that. and this means ISPs should be run by NPOs, because companies like ATnT, Werizon and Komkast are violating human rights by charging an arm and a leg every month and by placing data usage caps.
No, you do not have a right to internet. Nor do you have a right to drive a car, live in a mansion, live beyond your means, receive state welfare for the rest of your life or free medical care. You must work for the good things in life.
The internet is a privilege and not a right. It has become an integral part of our life, however, no one owes us internet service. It is useful for business and our personnel life but is not essential for life.
It seems to me that the right is not access to the internet but more the freedom from having others prevent you from accessing it. Though the problem with "freedom" rights is just how far it goes. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can be contradictory if an understanding of how they relate is not attempted. How can you, for example, Have the right to life and the right to liberty. Am I free to take life? Surely not, but then does that mean we don't have the right to liberty? And how is the "pursuit" of happiness different from the right of liberty? Morality really is a pain.
The internet is a technological device, a "thing" created by people. To say that internet access is a right is to require that this thing be given away free. Which is stealing from those who created and maintain the internet.
Human Rights are generally intangible. Having a right to some sort of product or service places an obligation on another person to provide that product or service.
A human right? No. But in order for this world to advance, the whole world needs to be connected.
The only rights humans have are the one's their governments permit them to have. If we lived in any other state or the USA had not evolved as it had we wouldn't know such phrases as "inalienable rights".
The internet is another form of communication...period. Phones, newspapers, magazines, TV, movies – all forms of communication and the Internet is no different. If TV is banned or news papers are shutdown, the completely useless and lame UN doesn't designate those mediums as 'human rights'.
The internet is not a right...no more than Health Care is a right. You have the right to breathe, the right to live (if your government permits it)...anything else you have to earn!
Clearly the UN does not designate those media as rights, otherwise reality TV would be ruled a war crime.
It's simply a nice thing to have access but it's not a human right. Seems only free and democratic countries are not afraid to allow complete access.
There is free wi-fi in a local park ... which runs at about the speed of dialup. It's better than nothing but that's about it.
A human right is something you inherently possess by yourself and should not be taken away. Not something that is given by an outside force. It does not mean government/society should not provide these things, but they are not human rights.
You can have power in your home or not have power, but you have the right to have the power company lay the infrastructure so that you can choose to pay for it or not. You should also have the right for ISP's to lay the infrastructure for internet connectivity. We force the water, power, and sewer companies to lay infrastructure when a community is in development, why not internet as well? You have the right to a phone line to your home, but often it's cheaper to do away with the phone and use VoIP. It IS a human right to at least have that infrastructure in place to be able to choose.
Answer:
No. It's a product that is sometimes free.
YES.
The Internet is nothing less than the modern version of the printing press or the radio, which, in the USA, are protected rights under the 1st Amendment. Instead of giving a voice to the few who owned the presses or the transmitters, it gives a voice to any who own a computer and a network connection not monitored by a dictatorship. Thre in lies the problem for most political parties, including those in the USA, where the media controlled by one group-think is trying to suppress the ability of other group-thinks to publish, in print or on the Internet. The method of choice for suppressing opposing opinion is rapidly evolving into the party in power trying to force ISPs to throttle dissident voices.
I would like a printing press delivered to my home ASAP, since it is my right, apparently.
No.
Well said.
I'm curious as to the charges that say that some parts of the US have higher broadband access rates than the rest of the world. Where are the stats? I can understand some rural areas having dial-up only, but many parts of the world (Canada, Australia, New Zealand) have capped data plans as well, meaning that you have internet, but only to a point. Too many assertions, not enough facts.
I don't know about a right, but it comes very close if it isn't. It is nearly a necessity for life, jobs, basic living as we know it today in the modern world. However, one could survive without. Unlike water or food or air. So this one is a close call. I would say I would support it being treated as a right if doing so eliminates issues like Comcast banning a person for using more than 250 GBs of data. I think companies turning peoples internet off or throttling it down is wrong. Yes if they go over charge it for them. But the internet shouldn't be scaled back, neither in the amount we can use nor in the freedoms that it gives. That's why I am also against the current bill being pushed in congress to change copyright demeanor on the net to make any mention of copyright materials illegal and punishable. The internet being a place for freedom, I consider that a right.
No. Is owning a T.V. a right? No. How about owning a house. Is it a human right that everyone gets to own property? No. Is it a human right to have leather in your vehicle? No Is owning anything a right? No. Is having the opportunity to do something to better your life and obtain these materialistic things a right? Well, in America its called the pursuit of happiness. Not the guarantee of happiness.
Ah, could not have said it any better myself. If only half the dimwits on this fourm were as smart as you my good friend.
Working for a living is not a right as most republicans seems to mention, but a previiledge by the capitalist system that permits the best to florish and the worst to disappear. Apologies to the parents of america for lying about the toughness of economics to their offspring. Sorry.
The Internet is not a right as future tech will be since it is not free like the best things in life as the old saying goes.
You drink too much.
Nobody ever tried to make a right for a perfect dental smile like in the Cell Phone Ads of recent. The problem with World Wide Web is that it makes us all ignore even more the obvious blight of problems in cities including the homeless and economic leftovers of both the criminal and legals worlds of economics. At least electric cars are getting more common.
Seriously? Seriously? A human right? Its a fu king utility! You can actually live happily without it, you d bag. You can also live without electricity and a car and tv and radio and microwaves . And you can obviously live without a brain.
The first comment on the thread is the only one that matters.
and yet they bombed countless countries and civilians and continue to do so.
So what about those who have served a federal prison sentence for committing an internet related crime, and are now on supervised release? They are forbidden from any kind of internet access, and must report to their PO's if they even accidentally see a web page on a cell phone, or on a jumbotron in a store. How are they supposed to survive and function in civilization with culture like ours? Aren't THEIR rights being violated?
No, they are not, in the same sense that if they went to prison, their right to liberty would not have been infringed upon. To abuse your rights is to declare that you are undeserving of them, hence why we imprison murderers.
Look, the simple fact is that times have changed, mankind has evolved, and our definitions of rights have to change with them. The simple fact is that without an internet connection, especially in the 'first world', as it were, it is incredibly difficult to function in society. Mailed newsletters have fallen away in favor of e-mail newsletters, much of the world's commerce and economics takes place digitally, and many companies refuse to accept applications for employment in person – it must be done online.
The internet is more than a commodity, it is more than a luxury. It is a near necessity. Deny it all you want, but clearly, you arch-conservatives haven't managed to stop us from adapting to a changing world.
....Idiots at the U.N.
Internet is anarchy. http://eatingpropaganda.blogspot.com/2011/06/internet-epitome-of-anarchy.html
The key word is Access. The Internet itself is a tool, as many others have pointed out. What is being debated is the role of government in providing this access. Many fundamental "rights" in the US are a matter of access achieved through laws from the government. The right of women to vote, for example which was enacted by an act of government in the US, in order to provide equal access to the political process. So this is not a new role of government.
Similarly, if knowledge is power, those who have Internet access gain an upper hand in the process versus those who can't. The closest analogy would be education. Historically, education was restricted to the wealthy elite, until governments stepped in and created access through public systems.
Thus I respectfully disagree with those who say Internet access is not a fundamental right and must not be in the purview of the government. Everything today, from education to the work place uses the Internet. With access limited to only those who can afford it makes it difficult for quite a few Americans to compete and contribute in their society.
My comment is directed at US readers:
We may indeed have a right to internet access (insofar as, say, you do not lose that right by committing a felony, for example.)
But it is naive and juvenile to assume that this means a right to FREE in-home high speed internet, other than in public access areas or free wifi hotspots, such as libraries, as has been pointed out earlier.
If you are waiting for free high speed internet cable access to get hooked up at your personal hovel...well, ya know, don't hold yer breath.
Productivity has not increased at the same rate as the proliferation of acces to, nor the ever-expanding amount of information on the Internet. This essentially means the Internet is by far used more for non productive means than productive ones.
Also, the Internet delivers so much information at once that it fractionalizes our memories and causes us to live in a very small time-frame.
If you think there was something spontaneous and cool about the apparent uprising lead by social media, you're just naive. There were sponsors behind each of these movements, and in many cases the sponsors are not people we would want to see in power. Take off the rose colored glasses and you will see the internet is just the latest method for delivering premeditated propaganda.
If all these things are fundamental human rights then they should be provided with our tax money, instead of governments using our money to invest in things in their own interests or use against us. Its time for a world wide revolution against corporations and governments, even the most trusted sources have been proven liars over and over. Wake up people.
Food, water, shelter, respect are human rights. Period.
Then, there is no difference between a roofing contractor and the Red Cross? The plumbers who supply that water are supposed to work for free, and the farmers that grow food should survive on on your good intentions? Rights are not free. Soldiers, I project, know that freedom can sometimes come only at the ultimate sacrifice. Food comes at a price. Bread is not free. Try to stop paying your local utility company to see if the water still flows when you turn on the faucet.
US liberals will support this right up to the day Bill Clinton's victims (and other) get a web page. Can't wait to watch Hilllary back-peddle!
No it is not, but you have the right to take your happy a** to the local library to get on the internet.
You've got to be kidding! Tomorrow there'll be a new network that connects people's brain waves to a monitoring system and then that too shojld be called a human right bcos it adds value to life? Stop with the silliness! Radio, tv, internet, 3g, newspapers, these all give us access to information and are not human rights. Some quicker than others and communication methods will keep evolving.
STOP ABUSING THE TERM!! sheesh!
I do not have cable or satellite television, because I cannot afford them. I certainly do not expect the Dish newtork to provide a satellite hookup for free. The Internet is a business. It is not the Red Cross, not Unicef, and not NATO. A computer is a product and the net is a service. Verizon is not a charity, and like Sprint and Clear, does not enjoy tax-tempt status. My wireless bills are not tax-deductible. I expect to pay for them, as I would expect to walk in to a supermarket and pay for food, or walk in to Staples top pay for computer supplies.
No.
Seems to me like everyone (including the writer) missed the point! The UN is saying that individuals should have the right to access the internet without the government messing with the connection or blocking pages to prevent vital information from getting out (ie free speech and internet neutrality combined)
I believe it's time for it to be the right of all who want it, to have access to the internet, the costs are too high for this service, but I've been willing to pay.
Internet access is nothing like clean water, air or anything else necessary for a healthy life. Access to the Internet is more akin to driving. It can help your life but is by no means a necessity let alone a human right.
Food is a human right but we still have to buy it.
Considering how many businesses are going to internet-only applications, considering how much cheaper things are on the internet than in stores, etc? Yes, at least BASIC internet access (768kbps down, 72 up) is a human right.
More and more information is becoming online only, and it's time to realize that when that happens it is exactly like having access to a library.... you simply need it period.
The United States "Pricing it out of reach" sounds like the government is on par with the Arab governments cutting off the Internet. The US government does not set Internet prices, and short of those held criminally accountable, does not dictate who can and cannot log on to CNN.
If it enters my airspace I should have the right to receive it, decode it, watch it, read it and record it. Any outbound transmission (email, my own blog, posting this comment ect.. ) of course are not.
What can we say about Cuba, where no one single citizen has access to the internet; only the government has and controls it???
I appreciate your joining two independent clauses with a semi-colon. That being said, what can one say about Cuba? I am sure Michael Moore will champion the cause of communism and, give time, Moore will also tell us about those elections Castro promised during the revolution.
Internet should become a human right! Internet with freedom of speech and freedom for search other sources with other points of view, different than that of the goverment. The boundaries of the internet and the law (AKA state secret) should not interfere with the freedom of speech, and freedom to search and publish information
Poor analogy. Humans need clean water to survive. Without clean water we die. Internet is not needed to sustain life. It is a major convenience only. I really do not live by what the UN defines. The UN has become a joke anyway. Iran or similar countries on the human rights panel is laughable.
Free internet, wifi, 3G, around THE World. You are old fashion, step aside,let's get along with progess. Good by big brother. Let THE good times roll. Then you will have a one world people.
Scare of THE future!!!!! One tablet IN every house around THE world. Who's going pay for that, you alread did now they are recycling it, ,wave up. World THE future ls yours to hold.
Any 'right' that enables a government to take something of value from one person and give it to another is not a right. This is theft disguised as humanism.
The Internet is not an abstraction belonging to 'the people.' Rather, it is a collection of intellectual and physical properties born of the hard work and investment of real people who have a real 'right' to their property and investment.
Thanks for visiting my inlone portfolio Linda, I am glad it inspired you. It has become a passion for me and I have to be aware that I don't sacrifice other important parts of my life by consuming too much of my time creating, upgrading and maintaining. I only wish that we had better internet speed at our learning centre so that the students could try some of these wonderful tools and resources! I regret that it took me so long to get on 20/20 vision, but I hope to visit regularly and become part of the community! Thanks so much for your hard work and for inviting me! Looking forward to seeing more. (Deb)
You lost me at "so-called developed world". Get a clue.
If you feel free Wifi is a right, hit up McDonald's and order a water.
If this is true then a free ANUS laptop is also a human right The XXL not the cheapo one.
Stupid. We have lost touch with what is really important. We can no longer tell the difference between need and want.
Interesting article but the water analogy is a bit off since the UN was unable to resolve that even access to clean potable water was a human right. Seems like we should get that sorted before addressing issues that we don't even need to physically survive.
I pooed.
The more human 'rights' we identify, the more watered-down the significance of calling something a human right becomes. Internet access is not a human right, and it's a ridiculous sham to label it as such. Internet access alone does not control speech. Internet Access does not say anything. Internet Access is not creating messages... HUMANS create the message. That is why preventing peaceful protests IS a human rights violation – the protest itself is not a human right... it's the fact people use the medium of a protest – a public gathering – to speak their minds. People also go onto TV and speak their mind – but no one is saying TV is a Human Right... and rightly so.
I was deeply shocked from spring summer fashion week 2012 which had just finished. Model shows with wearing nice design clothes, fashionable shoes and Fashion leather handbags. Each show is the perfect masterpiece. Designers indeed surprise us and also make us can’t wait to buy and wear his creations. However, all of designers worked with the same set of ways – the spring summer 2012 trends – which can help us to know what’s the most popular style of clothes, shoes or handbags in these year. At the same time, fashion youngster can avoid getting out in the carousel of cloth shape, bags colors, even the matching style.
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The above introduced fashion handbags is very popular for spring summer fashion trends .With the designer inspired handbags which also can find at dssfashion.com on line guarantees that you could accessorize your every look. Show your fashion. Enjoy your life.
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Proposing the Internet as a public utility such as water is a very slippery slope. How would the author define what other items should be treated in this manner? Is it popularity? The fact that so many have diverted their daily communications and interaction to depend on it? If so, then why not abscond every such item? How about the iPhone? What if suddenly Apple said "sorry we're cancelling support for our operating system and replacing it with something else?" Should there be a rally that our rights are being suppressed and therefore the technology should be publicly funded? I don't see a definition which could work to suddenly make the coordination and products of thousands of private corporations the responsibility of the government. Let's not forget, that's exactly what the Internet is. Private lines, private ISPs, corporate owned routers and servers. Cooperative capitalism at it's finest, though it was created for the U.S. military originally. I'm not saying this critically, it's just something many forget. It's worked incredibly to innovate to this point. Public utilities are the base necessities for living. Water, Heat, simple phone emergency services.
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In my opinion, we all have the right to have a high speed Internetinternet access for it was discovered for the betterment of all people.
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